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The Student Newspaper of Jackson-Reed High School

The Beacon

The Student Newspaper of Jackson-Reed High School

The Beacon

The Student Newspaper of Jackson-Reed High School

The Beacon

Track team prospers at DCSAA indoor championships
Track team prospers at DCSAA indoor championships
Sonora Hale, Ruth Mesfun, and Ali Green March 12, 2025

The Jackson-Reed indoor track and field team maintained their reputation with a strong showing at this year’s DCSAA state indoor championship. The Tigers put together a solid performance, with the girls finishing fourth overall and the boys placing fifth. Standout performances included the boys 4x800m relay, which won second and set a school record, and the girls 4x200m relay, which also won second and secured a national-qualifying result. In a thrilling—but ultimately bittersweet—-finish,...

Why JR seniors deserve free periods
Why JR seniors deserve free periods
Nana Yeboah and Eva Okoobo March 12, 2025

Free periods represent the sacrifice that many students have made to earn open credits. This privilege is earned, not given. Since the 9th grade, every Jackson-Reed student has looked forward to having...

ART AT AU - The Katzen Arts Center sits at the heart of the American University Campus. The free museums houses a very wide range of art.
A peek into a hidden gem of the AU Museum
Esme Nooruddin, Junior Editor • March 12, 2025

Living in DC offers access to a plethora of museums for free! DC’s mall is famous for its collection of Smithsonian museums. One of the more unknown museum is the American University (AU) Museum,...

Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White expelled
Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White expelled
Peyton Shum and Jordana Sloane March 12, 2025

On February 4, the DC Council unanimously voted to expel Ward 8 Representative Trayon White following a bribery charge. This was the first time in 50 years the DC Council has expelled a council member. White...

It's time to bring back February break
It’s time to bring back February break
Miles Kenefick, Contributor • March 12, 2025

DCPS removed the February break in the 2023-2024 school year. According to the DCPS website, they did this to align with other schools and to shorten the school year, adding days to summer break. Personally,...

Volume 88 Issue 5
The Beacon Staff March 12, 2025

Volume 88 Issue 4
February 7, 2025
Volume 88 Issue 3
January 23, 2025
Volume 88 Issue 2
November 25, 2024
Volume 88 Issue 1
Volume 88 Issue 1
October 15, 2024
Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White expelled
Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White expelled
Peyton Shum and Jordana Sloane March 12, 2025

On February 4, the DC Council unanimously voted to expel Ward 8 Representative Trayon White following a bribery charge. This was the first time in 50 years the DC Council has expelled a council member. White served two terms as the Ward 8 representative on the DC Council and was elected for a third. White also ran for mayor in 2022. He was a protégé of former Mayor Marrion Barry, who similarly...

Prom tentatively set for hotel in Rockville
Dani Wallace and Riley MacClellan March 12, 2025

After multiple revised contracts and up to seven considered locations, the class of 2025 prom venue is expected to be confirmed by the end of this week. The front-running location is the Bethesda North...

Councilmember Pinto proposes bill to ban phone use in DCPS
Giacomo Tomaino, Contributor • March 12, 2025

On January 27, DC Councilmember Brooke Pinto proposed legislation to prohibit cell phones and personal devices during the school day. If passed, the “Heads Up! Distraction-Free Learning Amendment Act...

Q&A with Senator Chris Murphy
Q&A with Senator Chris Murphy
Rohini Kieffer and Isadora Groves March 12, 2025

Since the start of Donald Trump’s second term, Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, has been one of the most outspoken critics of the administration. Murphy condemned the broad federal...

INVESTIGATIVE ACADEMIES - The Academy of Global Studies and JROTC took a field trip to the FBI headquarters downtown. Applications for academies are now open.
Academy applications open for 2025-26 school year
Grace Harscheid, Junior Editor • March 12, 2025

Jackson-Reed’s 10 academies opened their applications to new interested students on February 1, which will close at the start of September 2025. Admissions operate on a rolling basis, with acceptances...

Are you smarter than a freshman?
Are you smarter than a freshman?
Javier Thompson and Sarah Rose Wiesenfelder March 12, 2025

Welcome to “Are You Smarter than a Freshman?” Today, our contestants are social studies teacher Matthew Burgoyne and freshman Vivian Collier. In this game, we take one random teacher or senior and...

ART AT AU - The Katzen Arts Center sits at the heart of the American University Campus. The free museums houses a very wide range of art.
A peek into a hidden gem of the AU Museum
Esme Nooruddin, Junior Editor • March 12, 2025

Living in DC offers access to a plethora of museums for free! DC’s mall is famous for its collection of Smithsonian museums. One of the more unknown museum is the American University (AU) Museum, just a 20-minute walk from JR, located on the main campus of American University in the Katzen Arts Center. I visited the museum on a random Saturday and was blown away by the variety of art offered.  The...

From behind the desk: Alumni return to teach at JR
Natalia Weinstein and Cecelia Grant March 12, 2025

When it comes to the Jackson-Reed community, we are lucky to have both new and old teachers from a variety of backgrounds who sat in the very same seats as students and decided to return as staff.  Fatima...

The life of Eleanor Holmes Norton
The life of Eleanor Holmes Norton
Avani Patel, Junior Editor • March 12, 2025

Eleanor Holmes Norton has been DC's congresswomen for 34 years. She was an activist in the Civil Rights Movement and is known for breaking gender barriers throughout her long career; she has long defended...

FANTASTIC MR. FLACK - Biology teacher Robert Flack initially wanted to become a teacher to share his passion for music, but now shares his love for the sciences in Honors and AP Biology.
Meet biology teacher Mr. Flack
Tessa Frantz and Avani Patel March 12, 2025

Every student has a reason for having a favorite teacher and, for us, we value one’s ability to create a warm, welcoming environment. We’d like to introduce you to our favorite biology teacher: Robert...

Thank a social worker. It’s their month!
Edie Young, Contributor • March 12, 2025

We all have hard days, but luckily at Jackson-Reed, we have a team to help us manage our emotional stress. March is National Social Work Month and the celebration began in 1963 as a time to celebrate...

How to have the perfect snow day
How to have the perfect snow day
Nati Pinilla, Contributor • February 7, 2025

In early January, two snow days were added, making for an extra long winter break. There are tons of different ways in which Jackson-Reed students spent their extended weekend. Personally, I spent the...

Why JR seniors deserve free periods
Why JR seniors deserve free periods
Nana Yeboah and Eva Okoobo March 12, 2025

Free periods represent the sacrifice that many students have made to earn open credits. This privilege is earned, not given. Since the 9th grade, every Jackson-Reed student has looked forward to having free periods during their senior year. Every grade has a town hall meeting where they discuss future plans and expectations for the year ahead. As juniors, our town hall focuses on what’s to come:...

It's time to bring back February break
It’s time to bring back February break
Miles Kenefick, Contributor • March 12, 2025

DCPS removed the February break in the 2023-2024 school year. According to the DCPS website, they did this to align with other schools and to shorten the school year, adding days to summer break. Personally,...

Trans healthcare threatened around the nation
Trans healthcare threatened around the nation
James Davis, Contributor • March 12, 2025

Over the past few years, transgender people have been under unprecedented levels of scrutiny for our bodies and lifestyles. In 2024 alone, 50 bills were passed in various states restricting healthcare,...

Top 10 March Madness Punishments
The Beacon Staff March 12, 2025

No ChatGPT On-campus lunch for a full semester Run a milk mile Go on a date with a GDS kid Wear the JROTC uniform 24-hour challenge at JR Turn down a Boone...

100 word rants: March Madness, Thrifting, Nostalgia
Devan Mehta, Padget Bowers-Shreve, and Mecca Osborne March 12, 2025

March Madness It's that time of year again! When we all get strangely invested in college basketball and then go back to not caring in April. Of course I am talking about March Madness. Now, I know nothing...

Super Bowl LIX review
Super Bowl LIX review
James Fowlkes, Contributor • March 12, 2025

In early February, one of the most legendary and popular sports games occurred: the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl has been around since 1967 when the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10. The...

Track team prospers at DCSAA indoor championships
Track team prospers at DCSAA indoor championships
Sonora Hale, Ruth Mesfun, and Ali Green March 12, 2025

The Jackson-Reed indoor track and field team maintained their reputation with a strong showing at this year’s DCSAA state indoor championship. The Tigers put together a solid performance, with the girls finishing fourth overall and the boys placing fifth. Standout performances included the boys 4x800m relay, which won second and set a school record, and the girls 4x200m relay, which also won second...

Girls' Basketball season ends in DCSAA Semifinal
Girls’ Basketball season ends in DCSAA Semifinal
Sam Bigge, Junior Editor • March 12, 2025

The girls’ varsity basketball team went into this year with something to prove. Having consistently fallen just short of their goals in the DCIAA and DCSAA tournaments the last few years, the Tigers,...

Despite strong year, shortcomings leave Tigers motivated for offseason
Despite strong year, shortcomings leave Tigers motivated for offseason
Justin Glenn, Sports Editor • March 12, 2025

  When reaching for the top, despite all signs of being there, sometimes there is still a way to go. After a historic 33-3 season in 2023-24, this year the boys’ varsity basketball team weathered...

Celebrating JR’s athletes during Women’s History Month
Adler Amolsch, Director of New Staff • March 12, 2025

Despite an overall lack of attendance at female sporting events, progress in participation and viewership in female professional leagues has come a long way in recent years. From the WNBA delivering a...

Lunch basketball unites students
Cole Andersen, Contributor • March 12, 2025

The SGA intramural basketball tournament is something both basketball players and non-athletes can look forward to each year. The teams are self-picked and, for better or worse, the names are too. Most...

Perfil de atletas de los deportes de primavera
Perfil de atletas de los deportes de primavera
Kalpana Shipler and Emely Mejia March 12, 2025

Con la llegada de la primavera, la temporada de deportes de invierno llega a su fin, dando paso a nuevas oportunidades para los atletas que esperan con ansias competir bajo el sol. Mientras despedimos...

March 2025 Spread
March 2025 Spread
The Beacon Staff, Justin Glenn, Noa Gordon, Edith Corrigan Conaty, Maya Roskes, and Norah Caplan March 12, 2025

Recruited athletes share their experience
Edith Corrigan Conaty and Maya Roskes March 12, 2025

This year, over 30 upperclassmen were recruited to play their sport in college. “Recruitment” describes the lengthy process of visits, scouting, evaluations, and the narrowing down of offers. For many...

Baseball makes history with record number of college commitments
Baseball makes history with record number of college commitments
Justin Glenn and Noa Gordon March 12, 2025

The baseball program surpassed a milestone this off-season with ten players, one junior and nine seniors, committed to play baseball at the collegiate level.  “Our program has always been able to...

Q&A with AD Arrington
Norah Caplan, Director of New Staff • March 12, 2025

Few people know the ins and outs of recruiting like Athletic Director Patrice Arrington. Once a star-studded recruit equipped with an athletic scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, Arrington went...

Honoring Black History Month in DC
Maddie Nusbaum, Junior Editor • February 7, 2025

African American history and culture are essential parts of Washington DC’s identity, meaning that there are many different opportunities available in the city to celebrate Black History Month. From...

The past, present, and future of RFK Stadium
Will Nichols, Contributor • February 7, 2025

DCIAA soccer players, sweaty teenagers, and wannabe influencers have long been exploring the abandoned building of RFK Stadium, recently renamed from FedEx field. The smell of spray paint lines, graffiti-covered...

The voice that sang at the Lincoln Memorial
Ivonne Nakatoke, Contributor • February 7, 2025

Marian Anderson was shook. Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, over 75,000 pairs of eyes and ears and the Lincoln Memorial stood her greatest spot. Her biggest swell of determination, coming from the 19 feet...

La presencia de los meses de herencia
Alex Frommer, Junior Editor • March 12, 2025

Imagínate esto: es un domingo por la noche y estás temiendo la llegada del lunes. Entonces, chequeas tu teléfono y ves un mensaje de un amigo recordándote que no hay clases el lunes porque es el Día...

Union Latina en JR
March 12, 2025

La Union Latina es un club compuesto por integrantes de la comunidad latina/hispanohablante. Sin embargo,...

Estudiantes esperan orientación en medio de la nueva política migratoria
March 12, 2025

En la pared exterior del aula del segundo piso de la profesora de estudios sociales Michele Bollinger,...

Reacciones del Super Bowl: Eagles contra los Chiefs
Reacciones del Super Bowl: Eagles contra los Chiefs
March 12, 2025

El pasado 9 de febrero, los Kansas City Chiefs y los Philadelphia Eagles se reunieron en New Orleans...

La magia del intercambio entre JR y Alicante España
La magia del intercambio entre JR y Alicante España
February 7, 2025

Los estudiantes de Jackson-Reed han dado la bienvenida a un grupo de estudiantes de Alicante, España...

Guerilla Girls’ fight for change
Maddie Nusbaum, Junior Editor • March 12, 2025

The Guerrilla Girls are an anonymous group of feminist artists who have advocated against the lack of representation of female artists and artists of color since the 1980s. Famous for appearing at art...

Best bagels in DC
Best bagels in DC
March 12, 2025

As experienced bagel connoisseurs (one Jew and one daily bagel consumer), we embarked on a journey to...

Top spring holidays to celebrate
March 12, 2025

Everyone knows about major national holidays: Christmas, MLK Day, 4th of July. But there are some obscure...

What JR students are wearing this week: fashion in the halls
March 12, 2025

From an iconic skirt-over-jeans combo to adorable cowgirl boots, the fits at JR are inspiring and cute...

Girl Scout cookie review
March 12, 2025

We are back with a special guest to help, as the immense variety made this the hardest ranking yet, and...

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